Mother's Day on Arus
by Dark Empyrean
Summary: Almost every member of the Force has always hated Mother's Day, with good reason, except for one. Now that non-military transmissions to Arus have been approved as the planet rebuilds, can one member of the Force make a change? T for mild adult sit.


Author's note: Just a little story here to flesh out some characters and background and to celebrate the day. It was fun to write, and is meant to stand alone from my other, longer fic, although it ties into it. I'm still writing Life, and will get back to it pronto. Thanks again to all the reviewers, especially Mertz who suggested side-explorations into the character's lives. Oh, and almost forgot! Thanks to my brother Tony for patiently supplying me with phonetic spellings of Japanese phrases. I am sure I butchered them horribly, but you are a wonderful brother nonetheless.

No playlist! Can you believe it? The world must be coming to an end. Although I did get doughnuts in bed today.

And, as always, I do not own Voltron, etc. etc.

Oh, and I better err on the side of caution and rate this a PG-13 "T," because of one brief scene of a "suggestive adult situation."

Mother's Day on Arus

"Is it ready? Is it ready?" Hunk practically whined, hovering over Pidge's shoulder as his young friend sat at the main console of Castle Control. "When will it be ready?"

Pidge compressed his lips very tightly together and counted to ten. He thought a deep breath might help, too, so he tried that, but his attempts to keep from yelling at his friend were shattered when Hunk stuck his face right next to Pidge's, looking over his shoulder at the encryption code Pidge wanted to re-check before attempting to receive the transmission.

"Come _on_, little buddy! You're supposed to be the genius here…what's the hold-up?" Hunk was practically dancing around the control room like a kid at Christmas. Pidge had finally had enough. His friend had been after him since before breakfast about this transmission, and although Pidge knew how important this day was to his friend, how important this call was, it had only been recently that Castle Control had been cleared to receive non-military and non-emergency transmissions. But Hunk, in his excitement, seemed to have either forgotten, or simply didn't care, that they were still a planet at war, and that personal messages had to be carefully encrypted.

Pidge slammed his fists down on the console and swiveled to face Hunk. "I _am working on it!_ This is delicate stuff here, Hunk! Do you want Lotor, or Haggar, or Zarkon himself to be able to listen into this? Even worse, do you want them to be able to trace this transmission to its source, to know where your family _lives_, exactly where, _and_ to know how important they are to you? Is that what you want? Because I am working as fast I can here…"

Hunk paled and removed himself from Pidge's immediate vicinity. "Sorry, Pidge," he muttered, truly contrite. He had never seen his young friend explode like that. He cringed inwardly, feeling bad. Pidge held up well under pressure, especially when it came to anything technological, and his friend's violent reaction reminded him, belatedly, that he was one of the lucky ones, here in this castle, and on this planet in general. It was Mother's Day on Earth, and of the entire Voltron Force, he was the only one who had a mother to call and give best wishes to. It made him suddenly sad. Lance had family, but he was surprisingly quiet about them, saying only that they wanted nothing to do with him, and hadn't for a long time… everyone else was orphaned.

Then he remembered, belatedly, about the huge box sitting in a corner of his quarters, a blanket thrown over it in a weak attempt at keeping it a surprise. He'd managed to fend off questions from the rest of the Force by claiming it held some rather boring mechanical supplies from Earth, and no one had really questioned him much about it. He hid a broad smile, he hoped, by becoming suddenly interested in some plans for the new city that was to surround the Castle of Lions. His mother, aware of the tragic circumstances concerning the families of the rest of the Voltron Force, and indeed the entire planet, which was composed mostly of orphans below the age of fourteen due to Zarkon's repeated attacks, had decided to take matters into her own hands this Mother's Day. Family was very important to the Garretts, and his mother had been moved to tears to hear of Arus's plight. She sent the huge box with strict instructions on when, where, and how to open it, along with a fierce injunction that she wanted to meet all his friends when he finally saw her, face-to-face, for the first time since he left for this crazy mission…

"Uh, well, Pidge, I think I'm just gonna head over to the rec room. Haha, I mean, my mother, really wanted to meet all of you guys, since you've become sorta my family since I've been here, so maybe I'll go round up the rest of the Force, if you think it's gonna be soon…" he trailed off, uncertainly. He didn't want to provoke his friend any further, but he did have to get the box up to Castle Control, manage to cajole his friends into coming up there with him, and of course, he needed to make himself presentable for his haha, who would fuss at him violently if looked slouchy, which he usually did.

Pidge sighed, aware of the fact that his previous outburst had been perhaps a bit extreme. "I promise, Hunk. We'll have visual within the half hour, and I'll call you the second we're patched through."

Hunk's grin was a mile wide. "Ok, thanks, little buddy. I owe you big time." And he was off and running before Pidge could respond. Not that Pidge had any response. Not really. He hated Mother's Day. Stupid holiday invented by the card companies, he thought darkly. But still, he tried to at least keep up the appearance of happiness for his friend. He sighed, and turned back to his encryption program. One thing that was _not_ going to happen, not on his watch, was to let Planet Doom get access of any kind to the incoming transmission.

VVVVV

"No, Princess, like this," Lance explained, again. He fought down his irritation. She simply wasn't taking to the free weights at all. If she couldn't learn the proper forms, then she would only wind up hurting herself, and he couldn't seem to be able to teach her by example. He swallowed hard. He was going to have to do this hands-on. Surveying the Princess in her improvised workout clothes, which consisted of a pair of his old Galaxy Garrison sweat pants, tied tightly around the waist, and one of Pidge's cast-off t-shirts, the Princess's upper body was…distracting, especially since she was practically dripping in sweat…

"Allura, let me adjust the weights for you, ok? I need to…to touch you, to hold you through the proper forms a couple of times, and hopefully that'll do it, ok?"

She laughed, wiping back a strand of blonde hair from her sweaty forehead. "Lance, at this point, I'll do just about anything to get this straight."

He turned them so that they were facing the mirrored wall of the castle's new gym. She barely came up to his chin, he thought, caught up, for just a second, in how much smaller, how much more delicate…"

"Uh, Lance?" she prompted.

He was suddenly so nervous at the prospect of touching her he had to command his hands to stop shaking. He slipped right behind her until she was pressed directly against the front of his body. His heart pounded. "Ok, first of all, you need to straighten your spine," he said as he lightly ran his fingers across her back, making small adjustments here and there. "Now, since we're working with upper arms, you _must_, and Icannot stress this enough, keep your neck straight but loose, or else you'll pull a muscle, and that won't be good, to put it mildly." He moved both hands across her shoulders, pulling them back slightly, which also extended her chest… _concentrate, McClain_, he told himself…before pausing at the base of her neck to push down on the spot where her neck and shoulders joined.

Allura shivered and felt Lance stiffen. "Ticklish, a bit," she lied. She was getting better at shielding her thoughts, but emotions still leaked through, and the both of them were tenser than they should be. She shivered again when Lance moved his hands up her neck, moving it back and forth.

"Good, Allura," he said, his face a bit red as he felt her shivers. "Loose neck, but firmly controlled shoulders. All right, now we're going to work on the weights." Lance slipped his arms up under hers, matching his body to her stance, placing his hands lightly on the weights she was holding. "Ok, lift up like this, and stop here. This is called your range of motion, and it's the point at which your muscles stretch themselves as far as needed," he continued on, repeating the movements, feeling her muscles stretching while he held her. She was so much shorter than him that he had to lean against her in ways he'd rather not, and the both of them, red-faced, studiously avoided the other's eyes in the mirror. "Good," he said. "You're getting it…"

"Good form, Allura," Keith remarked dryly from the door to the gym. Lance moved away from her quickly, and Allura let the weights drop like they were burning her.

"Keith!" she exclaimed. "You scared me! When will you stop sneaking up on people like that?" She berated herself silently. She had been doing nothing wrong, and dropping the weights like that was bad form. She was going to hurt…

"I'll never stop 'sneaking,' as you call it, Princess," Keith said, turning his amused glance on Lance. "And hopefully, the rest of you will pick it up too, when I step up covert ops exercises next week. Good work, Lance, it looks like she's getting the free weights down, at least the upper body parts of it."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lance mumbled, wondering why he felt like a criminal. _ Oh, wait, because I am one_, he reminded himself.

"Look, I was just stopping in to tell you we'd better get ourselves up to Castle Control. Pidge has the encryption ready, and Hunk is just about on fire to speak to his mother and family, and they want to meet us, so I thought you guys might want a chance to change."

Allura had already racked the weights. "It's nice to speak to his family, of course, but I don't quite understand his excitement," she admitted, rubbing the sweat off herself with a towel.

"It's Mother's Day on Earth today," Lance explained, grabbing a towel for himself. "It's a day of commemoration for one's mother, and Hunk is so close to his family, that he can't wait to see her." The three of them felt the emotional temperature in the room drop by several degrees as they thought about their own absent mothers.

"It's important to him," Keith said, finally. "And it will be nice to meet some of the family he talks about all the time."

"Sure," Allura said with a forced cheerfulness. "I'm excited about meeting a person from Earth who's non-military. I'd better go change so I can make a decent impression."

Lance and Keith just looked at each other mournfully. Mothers were something they had an understanding about: not to talk about them. Arus was home now. The Voltron Force had become their family. And that meant putting up with Hunk and his over enthusiasm. _I can only imagine what his mother is like_, Lance thought at Keith.

_You're telling me. He pestered Pidge so badly all day long that Pidge finally yelled at him_. Lance raised his eyebrows.

"Well, time to go change. See you in a few, up at Control."

VVVVV

Hunk stared at the vidscreen in Castle Control with a huge grin on his face. "Ko-neko!" he cried out, using the pet name for his little sister that had haunted her since birth. It meant "kitten," in Japanese, and despite her annoyance at _still_ carrying the name around at the sophisticated age of sixteen, she was resigned to it. She was the youngest of five huge older brothers, after all, and had been babied and spoiled in every way possible for as long as she had been alive. Hunk was secretly one of her favorites, though. He was the gentlest, and she still missed having him around to brush her long ebony hair by the fire…

"Hunk!" she cried delightedly. She was actually crying, Hunk noticed, a fact that did not escaped his gathered friends and teammates. "I've missed you so much! It's so good to see you! Letters just aren't the same."

"Me too, ko-neko, me too," Hunk said. "By the gods, you've grown up!" His little sister, who had been nothing more than a bratty tomboy the last time he'd seen her, was now a beautiful young woman who embodied the fresh bloom of young womanhood in every way. Her bright green eyes, inherited from their American father, stood out in sharp contrast to her pale skin, her shining ebony hair that reached below her waist, and her delicate Japanese features. Hunk's gut twisted. "You're a real beauty now, Suki," he said, feeling fiercely protective and frustrated at the same time. "Those beastly brothers of ours had better be looking out for you…" he warned.

_My god, she is beautiful_, Pidge thought, staring at her, somewhat shocked. He didn't know what he'd expected. A mini-Hunk? But she was as different from his friend as a flower was from the tree that bore it…

"Oh, we are, don't worry," said his eldest brother Damon, popping into view just behind Suki. "The boys her age are almost afraid to ask her out because we give them the shake-down when they so much as talk to her."

Suki pouted, an act she performed prettily. "Yes, it's true, and most annoying." She smacked her big brother in the arm.

"Now, now, children," said a slow, pleasant voice. A middle aged woman, resembling Suki in every way, except that she was brown-eyed, a little stouter and had a few gray streaks through her ebony hair, sat down in front of her children so that she was directly in front of the screen. _She looks… very kind_, Keith thought. _And a bit like my Aunt_… It made him a little sad, but he plastered a smile on his face for his friend's sake.

"Haha!" Hunk practically whooped in delight. "Happy Mother's Day, I'm so glad to see you, I hope everything is going well on the farm and I think about you all the time, you'd like it here on Arus, and the children got the things from the temple charity drive, and they say thank you very much…"

"Slow down, Tsuyoshi!" she laughed, using Hunk's proper name, which, for some reason, made him blush. "Just seeing you is the best present I could have gotten for Mother's Day." Hunk glowed. "Now, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" she asked kindly, but in the manner of a woman who was used to being obeyed quickly.

"Yes, of course, haha," he said, using the familiar Japanese word for 'mother.' He looked around, noticing Lance and Allura's absence, but Keith reassured him.

"They'll be right with us, Hunk. They were in the gym, and wanted to be presentable for your mother."

Hunk relaxed. "Ok, then. Haha, this is Pidge, who made this transmission possible. He's a real whiz with any kind of technology."

Pidge, aware that he was being scrutinized not just by Hunk's mother, but by his sister as well, wished he had dressed better. He stood and performed an awkward kind of bow. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Garrett. And the rest of you, of course. Damon, Suki," he scrambled to add. "Hunk has told us so much about you." Hunk's mother smiled, taking him in.

"And this is Keith, he's our Commander and pilot of the Black Lion."

Keith stepped forward and smiled at the kind-looking woman. "I'm also quite pleased to meet you, Mrs Garrett, and the rest of your family. Hunk is blessed to have such a wonderful family to look after him."

Mrs. Garrett eyed him a bit more critically than she did Pidge. She pursed her lips. "So you are the Commander of this Voltron Force, then? The one who drives the Black Lion?" Keith nodded, surprised at being singled out. "Well, I will hold you personally responsible for my Tsuyoshi's welfare while he is in your care, Commander," she added, with mock severity.

Keith blinked in surprise. "Of course, Mrs. Garrett," he said, doing his best to sound…Commander-like? Trustworthy? _My god, this woman reminds me of my Aunt…_

"And that includes not putting up with any of his hijinx or nonsense," Mrs. Garrett added, impishly. Keith blinked, confused. Hunk? Hijinx? Nonsense?

"Sorry for being late, but better late than never, right?" Lance said, rushing into the room just steps ahead of Allura.

"And here are the rest of us," Hunk said eagerly. "Haha, this is Lieutenant Lance McClain," who punctuated his introduction with a courtly bow, "And Her Highness, Princess Allura."

Allura had coiled her wet hair into a bun at the crown of her head, wrapping a strand of pearls around it in an attempt to look as if she had not just run from the gym, even though she had. She had taken the time to slip into a shimmery blue, semi-formal dress, as well, which matched her eyes and was long enough to hide the fact that she was still wearing gym shoes. Wanting to make a good impression on Hunk's mother, and on the first Earth civilians she had yet to meet, she bowed deferentially from the waist and addressed herself directly to Hunk's mother, a woman he clearly held in great esteem. "Kon-nichiwa, Oka'san Garrett. Ome ni kakarete kouei desu," she said, glad, for once, for Koran's endless lessons on Earth culture and etiquette. The entire Voltron Force started in surprise. 

_I've never seen her act so much the princess,_ Lance thought, feeling his heart stutter for the second time that day.

_Yes, she certainly looks more regal now than she did lifting weights_, Keith teased, making his friend blush.

_I can hear you!_ Allura cried out mentally. _Quit it! It's impossible to remember Japanese and listen to you two… hooligans… at the same time!_ Lance and Keith tried to look, and think, like the upright citizens they weren't.

"The honor is mine," Mrs. Garrett replied, smiling at the young woman. She surveyed all the young people in the room with her son, pleased to see that they all, for the most part, lived up to her son's glowing descriptions. "Now, Tsuyoshi has explained to me that not all of you observe today's holiday, so the fact that you have come to share it with my family does us great honor," Mrs. Garrett said sincerely, as Suki and Damon settled themselves around her. "It is a day to honor one's mother, usually by presenting her with gifts or tokens of the esteem you have for her. However, I hope you will forgive me for reversing the tradition somewhat, in an attempt for the Garrett family to express our sincerest gratitude for becoming, in a very real way, a family for our son while he is so far away from us."

The members of the Voltron Force, used to dreading Mother's Day on Earth because of the sad memories it brought up for all of them, felt moved by Mrs. Garrett's words, although they remained a bit mystified as to her exact meaning. They knew she was diplomatically trying to make the day a little easier for them, and for that, they all felt a deep gratitude.

"Tsuyoshi," Mrs. Garrett said, in the commanding way all mothers had of addressing their children, "Do you have the box I sent?"

"Of course, Haha!" Hunk exclaimed, practically running over to the corner of Castle Control and returning with a large container. "I have it right here. Is it time?" he asked eagerly, sounding once again like the kid who had pestered Pidge all morning long.

"Yes, dearest. If your friends will just make themselves comfortable…" Mrs. Garrett suggested. The Force found various seats within view of the vidscreen, intrigued.

"It was my idea to present all of you with gifts this Mother's day, small tokens of the gratitude we all feel for taking care of our Tsuyoshi." Hunk blushed.

"But, Oka'san Garrett, it is us who should present you with gifts!" Allura protested.

"The greatest gift I can receive on this day is for me to know my Tsuyoshi is well loved and cared for while I cannot be there for him, and since I know you are all doing so, accepting these small tokens is the best Mother's Day present I could get."

"You do us too much honor, Oka'san Garrett," Keith said, bowing low at his waist.

_Picked that up quick, _Lance projected sarcastically.

_Cribbed it from Allura_, Keith returned.

"Not at all," Mrs. Garrett replied. "Now, Pidge. There is a green wrapped package in there for you."

"Haha wrapped all your presents to coordinate with your Lions," Suki said.

"Uh, thanks, Mrs. Garrett," Pidge said, face flaming red after being addressed by Hunk's sister directly. He slowly unwrapped his package, moved that his friend's mother would include him on this day that was usually nothing but painful for him. Inside was a stack of the latest editions of his favorite comics. He flipped through them quickly, realizing that she had included all the issues he had missed since he had been on Arus. "Ohmigosh," he breathed excitedly. "I cannot believe this. I thought I was going to have to wait…I don't know… forever to catch up… Thanks, Mrs. Garrett!" He cried, enthusiastically.

She smiled. "You're welcome, Pidge, but you'll have to thank Suki. She's the one who actually tracked them down and got them."

Suki leaned forward eagerly. "Yeah, you're really going to love the new direction they've taken in _Excalibur_. And _Witchblade_ has some new artists, really edgy stuff," she said, her face lit up.

Keith thought Pidge's eyes might pop right through his glasses. "You…you like comics?" Pidge managed to ask without stuttering.

"Love them," Suki said, still obviously excited. "I'm enrolled at an art school near here, and I'm learning to draw them myself. I want to do my own one day. Maybe I could experiment, for some school projects, drawing some of your adventures? You know, with the Robeasts and the evil Empire, and all that?"

Damon gave Suki a little shove. "Quit it, sis. You're hogging all the trans time." Suki blushed, and Pidge's heart almost leaped out of his throat. He recovered

quickly enough to blurt out, "Yeah, sure, no problem, anything you want to know…"

Suki smiled, as did her mother. Lance caught Keith's eye. _We'd better rescue the little guy here before he trips over his tongue_. Keith was doing an admirable job hiding the laughter Lance could feel boiling up inside his Commander.

"That is very thoughtful of you, Oka'san Garrett, of all of you," he added, bowing formally from the waist as he thought, _I can crib too, you know…_

_But I did it first,_ Keith shot back.

_No, I did it first,_ Allura interjected.

Hunk dug back into the box. "Ok, ok, here's one for Keith," handing him a long, flat, black wrapped package, "and for Lance," who got a square red-wrapped one. Both men tore into theirs at the same time.

"Wow," said Lance, eyes wide. "How much does this hold?" he asked, clutching the torrent player reverently.

"Oh, about half a million, I think," Damon said casually. "Hunk told me some of the bands you liked, and I added their complete discographies, and then picked out some of my own favorites I think you'll like, based on what he suggested."

"I haven't had any music since… well, since the first crash…" Lance trailed off, moved, almost, to tears. Music had been the one constant in his life, the one thing he could always turn to for escape or comfort, or just plain ripping loose. He hadn't realized how much of a hole its absence had left in his heart. "I don't know how to thank you. Hunk, you're going to have to wire Red Lion for surround sound," he warned, serious, for once.

"I figured," Hunk replied. "And soundproof your quarters."

Keith very carefully unwrapped the long black box. He had an idea of what was inside, and felt mixed emotions already. As he lifted off the lid, he stared down at something he had both missed and been grateful to lose. Staring up at him was a katana sword, its handle made of wood so dark it was nearly black, with a matching sheath. He stared at it, overcome with memories and mixed emotions….

Mrs. Garrett, perhaps sensing Keith's reaction, broke his reverie gently. "Tsuyoshi described to us your extensive training in the arts. This sword is a way to thank you, specifically, as the Commander of this group, for the balance you must maintain between love and duty, like the two edges of this sword. It is yours to use or not, but should you decide you want to, to practice or to fight, we did not want you to be without, kami ga wa gako ni kouun wo motarasu, Keith-sama." Mrs. Garrett's smile was bittersweet. "After all, we do share a common heritage."

Keith was moved almost to tears. "Hontou ni ureshii," he said simply. Ms. Garrett smiled. It was enough.

Allura had been straining to keep up with the exchange of foreign words. _I'm trying, Lance_, she responded to his unasked question. _I'm rusty at this, Koran would know right off, but I think she called him "beloved son," and he replied that he was…overjoyed? Let's just ask him later._

Lance shook his ever so slightly. _No, Allura. Trust me. For Keith, this is personal. He learned martial arts from his parents, and kept up his training after they died as a way to stay connected to them._ Allura's eyes widened at the significance of the gift the Garrett family had given Keith.

"And now, a gift for the Princess of Arus, from the humble Garrett family of Earth," Mrs. Garrett said, catching Allura's attention. Hunk handed her a huge, flat, blue box, and smiled sheepishly as he did so.

Allura unwrapped the packaging to find an exquisite silk Kimono inside. She gasped. It was a light blue color, and it was embroidered all over with darker blue lions. The kimono's belt matched the darker blue of the lions. As she pulled it out of the box, the thick silk fell to the ground in waves, and she felt her heart swell. "It's beautiful," she managed to say, and she meant it. "Any Queen or Princess of Arus would be proud to wear such a garment," she said, rising to bow formally once gain. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Mrs. Garrett, Suki, and Damon." _That's thank you very much, Lance_, she added for his benefit. She turned to Hunk, who was blushing fiercely, and kissed him gently on the cheek. "And thank you, dearest friend and brother, for including us in your family tradition."

"Aw, you're welcome, but it was Haha's idea," Hunk said.

"Oba'san Garrett, you will have to let us return your generous hospitality by coming to visit us here on Arus, when things are safer," Allura said.

"I look forward to it," Hunk's mother replied, smiling with satisfaction at a mission well accomplished. She knew that she, when the transmission ended, would be surrounded by her family and community, and she felt a fierce wave of gratitude for her simple blessings. She felt happy thinking that her son would spend the rest of the day in the company of friends, of family, now, whose lives might be a little brighter on this day that, in the past, had brought them pain.

The rest of the Voltron Force drifted away a little to give Hunk some time alone to say goodbye to his family. They all chattered happily about their presents, eager to play with them or read them or wear them. Keith, however, couldn't help but feel a sense of ambivalence as he regarded his gift. Looking at it, he thought about the double-edged katana blade, and about how so many of life's blessings were mixed. Here on Arus, it was true he'd found a group of people to call family, as well as friends. The other edge of the blessing, however, was the fierce protectiveness he felt towards them. He sighed. I had been an apt gift.

"You guys go on ahead," he replied, when asked if he'd be joining them in the rec room to look over their presents. "I'm going to go play with my new toy."


End file.
